Posted by Casey Williams on September 25th, 2008 in Education and Inspiration, General, Green Building
The University of Virginia is taking several steps towards sustainability and the efforts are paying off. UVA has topped a list of 10 Virginia schools participating in a national survey that rates the country’s greenest campuses.
In light of the planned enrollment growth of approximately 150 students a year, The University recently commissioned as part [...]
Posted by Joe Barnes on September 19th, 2008 in Education and Inspiration, General
The historic Jefferson Pools where Thomas Jefferson, Robert E. Lee and ten of thousands of others soaked away their aches and pains will soon be restored. The Homestead resort, the owner of the pools located in Warms Springs, VA plans to carefully restore the historic structures that are virtually unchanged from when they were originally built [...]
Posted by Casey Williams on September 17th, 2008 in Green Building, Nature/Environment
The idea of enabling homeowners to generate power from wind is blowing around Albemarle County. Recent articles in the Daily Progress (http://www.dailyprogress.com/cdp/news/local/article/wind_turbines_soon_a_reality_in_albemarle/27501/) and C-ville weekly (http://c-ville.com/index.php?cat=1990309083055403&act=post&pid=12171509083838512) announce that the County is considering changing the zoning rules to let residents put up wind turbines to power their own houses, barns and other buildings.
Rising energy costs, advances [...]
Posted by Leif Riddervold on September 11th, 2008 in Agriculture, General, Nature/Environment
It was only a few short weeks ago that our tenant farmer was forced to begin feeding hay to his cattle herd due to the drought we were experiencing. He normally begins feeding in November or December. Our fertile pastures had turned brown, leaves were starting to drop from trees, and streams were drying up. [...]
Posted by Casey Williams on September 11th, 2008 in Bundoran Farm Events and Occasions, Education and Inspiration, General
The Baldwin Center for Preservation Development is sponsoring two special events on September 29, 2008 that focus on developing a local food system and food policy.
Sep 29: Closing the Food Gap: Resetting the Table in the Land of Plenty
Date: Monday, September 29, 2008
Time: 5pm
Place: University of Virginia, Campbell Hall, room 153. (Parking: Culbreth Road [...]
Posted by David Hamilton on September 10th, 2008 in Education and Inspiration, General, Nature/Environment
Today’s Daily Progress front page shouts “Preservation in Peril?” Brandon Shulleetta’s article details the shortage of Albemarle County’s funding for its Acquisition of Conservation Easements program. The program provides funding, from property tax revenue, to acquire development rights from rural landowners. Despite the ominous headline, the program is, in one sense, a victim of its [...]
Posted by Joe Barnes on September 4th, 2008 in Education and Inspiration, General
It’s not surprising that the Charlottesville and Albemarle County area is frequently listed as one of the top places to live, retire and/or raise a family. In addition its spectacular beauty and extremely gracious way of life, there is always something to do and explore around Charlottesville. In addition to being the location of festivals [...]
Posted by Joe Barnes on September 4th, 2008 in Agriculture, Education and Inspiration, General
A recent article in the Daily Progress highlighted the efforts underway to add black truffles to Virginia’s agricultural offerings. Pat and John Martin of Rixeyville, VA started Virginia Truffle Growers and Virginia Truffle Sale and Marketing, companies focused on producing and selling black truffles and sharing their knowledge with other interested growers.
This focus on exploring potentially [...]